facebook app

If your iPhone battery struggles to make it through a full day, and you don’t want to add an ugly hump to your device, Guardian tech writer Samuel Gibbs has found that deleting the Facebook app and using Safari instead can boost battery life by up to 15%.

Gibbs spent a week comparing battery usage when using the app against a week using Facebook’s mobile site in Safari, finding that he averaged 15% more remaining battery life at the end of each day. He recruited a bunch of others to repeat the experiment, with similar results reported.

A simple tip means that you don’t even sacrifice much convenience by doing so …

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Update: Now available

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhrbT9O6kW8]

Facebook has made many changes to its newsfeed over the years (each usually generating howls of protest on launch and then viewed as business as usual within a week or two), but the interface on web and iOS app alike has seen only minor tweaks. Popup photos aside, it’s essentially remained a clean but uninspiring scrolling layout.

All this is set to change with the launch of Paper, a new iOS-only app set to launch in the U.S. on 3rd February.

Paper makes storytelling more beautiful with an immersive design and fullscreen, distraction-free layouts. We’ve also made it easier to craft and share beautiful stories of your own …

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[slideshow]

9to5Mac once again scoured the App Store for the most notable apps that launched, updated, or announced news recently and gathered them in our usual list below.

Today’s crop includes a new app about Robots, iPhone 5 support for an Adobe app, milestone news from a QR-code reader, and more. Keep checking the roundup, as we continually update throughout the day.

New

1. Robots for iPad | $4.99
This comprehensive guide to everything robot-related is getting much press today, but the concept is simple: a fluid, interactive reference app that features photographs, videos, facts, favoring options, etc., for over 120 actual robots. The app even features Furby and allows users to rate all robots on a scale that goes from “Creepy” to “Nice”. While it will not appeal to non-robot geeks, Robots for iPad is a unique offering from the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and its award-winning technology magazine, IEEE Spectrum.

Updates

1. Adobe Ideas | $9.99
Adobe’s digital sketchbook for vectors launched version 2.5 recently with new and improved tools for drawing, coloring, and managing layers. The update also now supports iPhone 5, iOS 6, and iPad Mini.

Get more below.

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